Makita Impact Driver batteries

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I've got a Makita 6337D Nimh drill/driver which works great for most screws. I'm trying to drive 6-100mm screwfix goldscrew plus screws and the Makita takes a while. I've heard lots of good stories about the impact drivers. If I buy a 6935DZ body only will the batteries fit?

Cheers,

Dave

 

[crazey]

Hi Dave,

Like you, I bought a naked Makita impact driver and, as far as I can see, if the battery fits, it's Makita and it's 12v, you'll be ok.

One word of caution, though. Make sure that you use the Makita recommended bits and bit-spacers or you'll end up in my position with a welded-in, knackered bit that seems impossible to remove so it will have to go in to a service centre. And make sure you use the right bit for the right screw; posidrive and Phillips are not interchangeable.

Otherwise, it's a superb bit of kit and you'll wonder how you managed to do without it.

Kind regards

Graham

 

[Woody Alan]

Make sure that you use the Makita recommended bits and bit-spacers

That must be something I missed...I take it that just means use good quality hard metal bit holders and not bits made of lead or cheese so they mushroom and lock in. Hmmm just need an egg.

Trouble is there are so many dodgy bits around I picked one up out of a set the other day and after a few screws the end had twisted. I bought 1000 makita pz2's at the show.

Cheers Alan

 

[Fecn]

Otherwise, it's a superb bit of kit and you'll wonder how you managed to do without it.

I recently got myself the 18V Makita Impact driver. I've only used it for a couple of hours so far, but already I wonder how I ever managed without it. Ooodles and oodles of power and lightning fast. I dismantled an old rusted climbing frame where I was expecting to have to hacksaw through the bolts because they were so badly rusted.. The Makita powerered through it all without even the slightest hint that it was trying.

I really don't know how I ever managed without it.

 

[special bone]

As already said above, if the battery fits and it's the same voltage, works a treat. I now have a torch that uses the 12V batteries as well .

Get yourself a set of Wera bits. The bit holder is partially made of plastic, I had a Wiha one made of metal and it sheared in half :shock: . Plastic takes more of the shock of an impact driver.

Another thing to note. It also causes a lot of friction. If you remove a screw with it, don't pick the screw up under any circumstances :evil: .

Rich

 

[mailee]

Or put it in your mouth!

 

[Dibs-h]

Or put it in your mouth! .

Oh Yeah! :shock: I know exactly what you mean!

I bought 1000 makita pz2's at the show.

I thought you'd bought 100 bits? At that price I should have bought a 1000 myself.

Dibs

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers for all the info. I've ordered a body. I'll let you know how I get on. I did a quick trawl of the high street stores last night to check for deals. No 50 quid triton router and no 50 quid hitachi impact driver. I live in hope.

I bought some Wera Diamond bits at the weekend. They helped a lot but I had to use them in a mains drill to get the power.

Yes, I've welded a screw to my mouth before. Thankfully it's not something I've forgotten about.

Dave

 

[Woody Alan]

I thought you'd bought 100 bits? At that price I should have bought a 1000 myself

I was always prone to exageration. Typo of course

Dibs I've been using the new TCT hole cutters what a difference they have made.

Alan

 

[Dibs-h]

Dibs I've been using the new TCT hole cutters what a difference they have made.

Alan

I'm glad you like them. It should be against the law to sell the cheap crappy ones. When I was doing the corner posts on my dormers the TCT ones were fantastic.

The only thing I would recommend is that you get a spare set of jobber drill bits of the same diameters. Nothing as annoying as dropping one and breaking the drill bit and on a Sunday evening - zero chance of getting it sorted.

 

[RogerS]

Also get decent screws. I tried using some bought from Screwfix (admittedly a long time ago and so the current stuff may be better) but they shear or the heads just round off under the punishment mewted out by my impact driver.

I also use my Impact driver for driving in hex headed bolts although I do pre-drill the 300 year old oak first :wink:

 

[Woody Alan]

Roger I am fitting oak door linings at the moment and I am drilling out almost to the same size as the screw to get a good fixing, anything else is too tight. Also gave up with the impact driver on this, using my old slow makita perfect for the job. The oak you have must be hard as iron might be worth a drop of wax on the end of the screw too. I know window fitters use silicone sealant as a lubricant but I think it corrodes the screw.

Alan

 

[RogerS]

.....use silicone sealant as a lubricant but I think it corrodes the screw.

Alan

Yuo..I use silicon sealant as well. Hadn't heard about corrosion possibly being a problem.

 

[Anonymous]

The impact driver has just turned up at home. Got swmbo to try the battery and apparently it fits and works.

Will give it a try tonight. The body only cost 30 quid so I'm not too bothered if it's not suitable for the job.

Roger, the screws aren't as good as Spax (haven't tried Reisser) but they are a fraction of the cost. They drive in to soft wood without pilots as they have the serrated teeth. They've pulled the frame nice and tight so I'm happy with the outcome.

Dave

 

[Woody Alan]

Hadn't heard about corrosion possibly being a problem

Neither had I, I base this on personal experience from fitting something years ago that in the course of some other work had to be removed again sometime later. The plated screws had a powdery surface and in one or two places rust was forming.
I believe it was due to the acetic acid given off during curing.
There is more blurb here.
http://yarchive.net/chem/silicones.html
Alan

 

[RogerS]

Interesting link, Alan. Looks as if normal screws are OK but not galvanised

 

[Anonymous]

Today I managed to get out and try the impact driver properly. Despite being a little slow it did drive the first few screws home. Then the battery ran low so I swapped to a half charged battery. This is when things stopped working. The screws were just too big for the drill. I swapped to my corded drill. This together with some new diamond bits did the job quickly and easily.

I'm not too bothered about the drill not doing the job. As mentioned before it only cost me 30 quid. It will come in handy for some other jobs.

I should probably mention a little more about my corded drill. It is a very good metabo drill which cost about 5 times the cost of the impact driver. It is electronic speed control which ensures a constant speed even under load. The only problem with it is it's weight and tail.

Watch out on Monday for the latest pics of the workshop.

Dave

 

[johnjin]

Hi Dave
I've got the 18volt li-on Makita impact driver and it will drive a 125x6m/m screw into beech without any pilot hole. It will do this without any effort at all and never any mashing up of the screw head that I used to get with an ordinary driver. As Fecn said I don't know how I ever managed without it.
The only thing to be aware of is that you really do need the extra tough bits that are made for impact drivers as ordinary bits don't seem to last very long before they shatter. After throwing about six bits in the bin in about twenty screws I bought the tough ones and have had no problem since.
I thoroughly recommend this impact driver for any heavy work.

All the best

john

 

[RogerS]

Dave

Your disappointment with your Makita prompted me to look at mine.

Same/similar body to yours, I believe, but it is a 14.4v as opposed to 12v. Like the others, mine blasts through stuff without a murmur (well, apart from shearing duff screws off and knackering dodgy bits). Looks as if one needs at least a 14.4v dooberry to be any good.

The battery running out is, IIRC, a function of the capacity. My original Makita came with 2.6Ah batteries and, after I replaced it after it got nicked, I could only get one with 1.4Ah and these batteries don't last as long.

Roger